Google Play Store just lost a ton of apps, but this is actually a good thing

What you need to know

• Google Play Store lost nearly 47% of its apps since the start of 2024, according to a new report.
• Of these apps, 200,000 were under the “games” category, followed by 160,700 in education, and 115,400 in business.
• Google said that it is due to its new policies that can track, detect, and remove spammy apps from the platform.

A new analysis by app intelligence provider Appfigures shows that Google's Play Store has been losing apps since the start of 2024. The report states that the Android app marketplace was home to 3.4 million apps worldwide, but the number dipped to around 1.8 million in just one year (as first reported by TechCrunch).

That's nearly half (47%) of the apps deleted from the Play Store, and according to Google, this is good news for Android users.

"This reflects the company’s focus on delivering high-quality apps” and “commitment to continuous improvements for user safety,” said a Google spokesperson to The Verge.

Back in March, the Google Play Store was impacted by a massive ad fraud that made users download "vapor apps" disguised as genuine popular apps. These ran recurring ads, making it difficult for users to delete and generating tons of revenue for fraudsters. This impacted over 56 million downloads that spanned across 180 apps, and the only way to practically fix this issue was by deleting the apps that caused it.

Tech Crunch added that Google confirmed its new policies were at play here, "which also included an expanded set of verification requirements, required app testing, and expanded human reviews to check for apps that try to deceive or defraud users."

As seen in the image above, 200,000 app tiles that were removed from the Google Play Store were in the “games” category, followed by 160,700 in education, and 115,400 in business, The Verge noted.

Why is this a good thing? For users, this significant cleanup makes the Play Store less cluttered with unwanted spammy apps and makes it easier for users to find genuine apps. As for developers, the reduction of apps makes it only easier for users to find their apps, with less noise from low-quality or scam apps.

That said, Google has been ramping up its efforts to track down malicious apps and is "working on ways to make it even harder for malicious actors to hide or trick users into harmful installs, which will not only protect your business from fraud but also help users download your apps with confidence."